New Language: Korean

We are very happy to announce that with the Korean translation of "The Flaming Fox", the language Korean has now been added to bilingual-picturebooks.org. Over 78 million people speak Korean as their native language, making it one of the 25 most widely spoken languages in the world. The Korean translator Kayi told us what she finds special about the Korean language - that there are many words that imitate sounds, actions, flavours and textures. "The one I really like is ‘boh-dong boh-dong’, an adjective that means soft and plump, to describe my children’s baby wrists. But ‘soft and plump’ doesn’t have the same rhythm and sound, so can never replace the word ‘boh-dong boh-dong," she says.

What was challenging for Kayi when translating "the Flaming Fox" is the phrase "once upon a time or never", with which the fairy tale starts. The group of teenagers who wrote the story chose this phrase intentionally to allude to the story-telling tradition of Arabic and Persian languages. Kayi said that after much deliberation, she decided on a sentence that says something happened a long time ago, so it's not even certain whether the story happened or not.

We thank Kayi very much for her support and hope you enjoy the new language!

You can find the "Flaming Fox" newly translated into Korean here.